It is well known to process image data in preparation of displaying an image. Image data may be processed to enhance an image in various ways, for example to improve the contrast of the image or to highlight or select part of the image. So-called advanced visualization (AV) applications allow more advanced image processing, for example for image manipulation. In medical applications, for example, advanced visualization may provide 3D views or sliced views, or may provide measurement data. Here, the term ‘advanced’ is used to distinguish the visualization application from, for example, a standard Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) viewer as it provides improved or additional functionality. For example, a doctor may want to produce a certain set of views of part of the body, and may want to improve the contrast and/or change the colors in some of those views. In such a case, a doctor may use two or more advanced visualization applications for a single set of image data, to produce two or more advanced visualization views.
International patent application WO 2014/174461 (US 2016/0062956A1), the entire contents of which are herewith incorporated in this document, discloses a method of image visualization which includes capturing a visual context of an image study displayed using a basic visualization application, identifying the image study, loading the image study on a visualization computing system, and launching an advanced visualization application. In WO 2014/174461, an advanced visualization application is described as an application with image viewing and/or image manipulating capabilities that are not common across computing systems and/or are not part of a basic visualization application.
When using advanced visualization applications, the problem arises that such applications typically involve a very large number of computations, thus requiring a substantial processing time. Some advanced visualization applications initially perform processing of the image data and may therefore take a long time from their activation before being fully operational. If two or more advanced visualization applications are to be used to produce views of a single set of image data, the delay introduced by the processing being carried out upon activation of the applications increases. European patent application EP 2 172 860 (US 2014/0348420A1) discloses a method for determining a hanging protocol for display of clinical images in an image study. A hanging protocol typically is a set of actions to arrange images for viewing in a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). The method of EP 2 172 860 includes classifying an image study based on a combination of high level characteristics and low level characteristics of the image study, and determining a hanging protocol for the image study based on the classifying. EP 2 172 860 does not concern advanced visualization applications and offers no solution for the long delays when starting up such applications.